A collapsed narrative? Geochemistry and spatial distribution of basalt quarries and fine–grained artifacts reveal communal use of stone on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Simpson, Dale F.; Dussubieux, Laure

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.01.038

Cited by 13 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…Indeed, stone tools used during the ahu moai phase of statue carving were obtained in Rano Kao and other quarries, where basalt was hard enough to sculpt the softer Raraku tuff (Gioncada et al, 2010;Simpson and Dussubieux, 2018). This could explain, in part, why the relocation of the Rapanui cultural center to Rano Kao coincided with the decline of moai carving and the shift to different ritual practices.…”

Section: An Alternative Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

CLAFS, a Holistic Climatic-Ecological-Anthropogenic Hypothesis on Easter Island's Deforestation and Cultural Change: Proposals and Testing Prospects

et al. 2018

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This paper reviews the existing hypotheses concerning the cultural shift from the Ancient Cult (AC) to the Birdman Cult (BC) that occurred on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) during the last millennium and introduces a holistic new hypothesis called CLAFS (Climate-Landscape-Anthropogenic Feedbacks and Synergies), which considers a variety of potential drivers of cultural change and their interactions. The CLAFS hypothesis can be tested with future paleoecological studies on new sedimentary sequences such as the new continuous and coherent record encompassing the last millennium from Rano Kao (KAO08-03) using a combination of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP), charcoal, and fecal lipid analyses, at decadal to multidecadal resolution. The Kao record should be compared with other continuous records of the last millennium available for the two other freshwater bodies of the island, Rano Aroi and Rano Raraku, to obtain an island-wide perspective of spatio-temporal deforestation patterns in relation to climatic shifts and human activities. The CLAFS hypothesis predicts that the shift from the AC to the BC was associated with the drying out and deforestation of Rano Raraku (the center of the AC) by ∼1,570 CE, followed by human migration to Rano Kao (the social center of the BC), where freshwater and forests were still available. Under the CLAFS scenario, this migration would have occurred by ∼1,600 CE. Findings to the contrary would require modification and refinement, or outright rejection, of the CLAFS hypothesis and the consideration of alternate hypotheses compatible with new paleoecological evidence. Regardless the final results, archeological evidence will be required to link climatic and ecological events with cultural developments.

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Section: An Alternative Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

CLAFS, a Holistic Climatic-Ecological-Anthropogenic Hypothesis on Easter Island's Deforestation and Cultural Change: Proposals and Testing Prospects

et al. 2018

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“…Es importante señalar que la construcción de moai y ahu fue abandonada finalmente en tiempos históricos, probablemente impulsada por la llegada de los europeos en 1722 (Simpson & Dussubieux, 2018). Los europeos trajeron artículos exóticos que sirvieron como capital alternativo para los miembros de la comunidad, alterando radicalmente el sistema económico que fomentaba la cooperación grupal .…”

Section: Gobernanza Indígena Del Contacto Preeuropeo En Rapa Nui: Eviunclassified

“…A pesar de las suposiciones sobre el papel de las élites y los "jefes" en la toma de decisiones (por ejemplo, Kirch, 2017), los primeros observadores etnohistóricos afirman sistemáticamente la falta de gobernantes dominantes. El registro arqueológico también carece de evidencia directa de control sobre la distribución de los recursos (Simpson y Dussubieux, 2018;. Por lo tanto, parece como si todos los miembros de la comunidad formaran la base de los miembros del gobierno en lugar de algún tipo de líder arbitrario o subconjunto de isleños.…”

Section: Elaboración Propiaunclassified

“…En segundo lugar, el transporte a pie de los moai proporcionó una forma ingeniosa para que grupos relativamente pequeños de personas colaboraran en el traslado incluso de las estatuas más grandes.La evidencia arqueológica sugiere que los recursos y el paisaje de Rapa Nui fueron tratados como un bien común. Por ejemplo, un estudio reciente sobre el uso del basalto de grano fino(Simpson & Dussubieux, 2018) revela que la comunidad tiene acceso abierto a este recurso sin…”

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Buena gobernanza de los bienes comunes de Rapa Nui: presente y pasado

Mischen

Lipo

Hunt

2019

Rev. geogr. Norte Gd.

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RESUMENLa sustentabilidad de las comunidades en Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua, Chile) requiere de una buena gobernanza de los recursos compartidos y comunes. Las estructuras de gobierno deben equilibrar los intereses individuales con las necesidades comunes de la comunidad, ya sea en la gestión de tierras comunales necesarias para el cultivo, el agua subterránea, las piedras para herramientas, los caladeros, el patrimonio cultural o el turismo. Gran parte de la historia reciente de la isla ha estado dominada por estructuras de gobierno impuestas por las autoridades chilenas. Sin embargo, gran parte de su patrimonio cultural se transfirió recientemente a la gobernanza local nativa. Aunque esto implica desafíos debido a la complejidad del paisaje contemporáneo, es un gran avance hacia la rendición de cuentas, la inclusión y las necesidades locales. Finalmente, se compara con la gobernanza previa al contacto europeo, y sostenemos que se mantuvieron muchos retos y soluciones, aunque con distinciones importantes. Palabras clave:ABSTRACT Sustainable communities on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) -whether in the past or present-require good governance of shared and common pool resources. Whether managing communal land needed for cultivation, ground water, stones for tools, fishing grounds, cultural heritage, or tourism, governance structures must balance individual interests with the common needs of the community. Much of the recent history of the island has been dominated by government structures that were imposed by Chilean authorities. Recently, however, much of the island's cultural heritage has been turned over to local native governance. This shift has challenges due to the complex contemporary landscape but is a significant step forward toward addressing accountability, inclusivity, and local needs. Looking at the pre-European contact governance of the island, we argue that many of the same challenges and solutions were adopted with some important distinctions.

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“…This volcanic island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, in an intermediate position between Polynesia and South America, and is famous for its megalithic statues, the moais, built by an ancestral civilization (Figure 4). These statues were the subject of the ancient Rapanui cult and were carved on the soft volcanic tufa of the crater that forms the Lake Raraku catchment using tools made from harder basaltic rocks obtained from other craters [25,26]. The ancient Rapanui civilization did not know metals.…”

Section: An Emblematic Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Fuzzy EHLFS: A General Conceptual Framework to Address Past Records of Environmental, Ecological and Cultural Change

Rull

2018

Quaternary

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Although the interpretation of Quaternary records of interrelated environmental–ecological–human processes is necessarily complex, it is often addressed using too-simple deterministic approaches. This paper suggests a holistic framework called EHLFS (Environmental–Human–Landscape Feedbacks and Synergies) to tackle Quaternary complexity. The EHLFS scheme is a multiple-working-hypotheses framework, able to account for the particular nature of Quaternary research, and is used in combination with the strong inference method of hypothesis testing. The resulting system is called the strong fuzzy EHLFS approach. This approach is explained in some detail and compared with the more extended simplistic determinisms—namely the environmental determinism and the human determinism—as well as with dual determinisms or deterministic approaches based on two contrasting and apparently contradictory and excluding hypotheses or theories. The application of the strong EHLFS methodology is illustrated using the Late Holocene ecological and cultural history of Easter Island since its initial human settlement, a topic that has traditionally been addressed using simplistic and dual deterministic approaches. The strong fuzzy EHLFS approach seems to be a robust framework to address past complex issues where environment, humans and landscape interact, as well as an open system able to encompass new challenging evidence and thorough changes in fundamental research questions.

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A collapsed narrative? Geochemistry and spatial distribution of basalt quarries and fine–grained artifacts reveal communal use of stone on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Cited by 13 publications

References 43 publications

CLAFS, a Holistic Climatic-Ecological-Anthropogenic Hypothesis on Easter Island's Deforestation and Cultural Change: Proposals and Testing Prospects

CLAFS, a Holistic Climatic-Ecological-Anthropogenic Hypothesis on Easter Island's Deforestation and Cultural Change: Proposals and Testing Prospects

Buena gobernanza de los bienes comunes de Rapa Nui: presente y pasado

Strong Fuzzy EHLFS: A General Conceptual Framework to Address Past Records of Environmental, Ecological and Cultural Change

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